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How to Make Fake Blood

We show you the step-by-step process for creating realistic looking blood with the use of corn syrup, red and blue dye, cocoa powder and corn starch.

Video Transcript

When it comes to special effects nothing is more commonplace than fake blood. Now there are a lot of different techniques to pull off this effect but we’re gonna take a look at the variation which we feel is the most realistic.

Now the first thing we’re gonna need to look at is the actual materials in order to create our fake blood. After that we’re gonna go over an overview of some of the measurements and then we’re gonna take a look at the adjustments. Finally, we’re gonna take a look at some of the effects we can pull off when using this type of fake blood effect.

The first step in creating fake blood is having the right materials. Now there’s a lot of different ways that you could pull off this effect but for us, what we did is we use a measuring cup and measuring spoons so we could actually make sure we get a cup of blood which is gonna be more than enough, then we also used red and blue dye. Now the blue dye is gonna add a little bit more depth and darkness to our blood.

Now a very important supply that you should always use which is gonna help with the consistency of the blood which is gonna add more thickness and make that blood feel more real is corn syrup and corn starch. Now the problem when creating fake blood is that it’s very hard to get it to feel very dark or look very dark like it’s a nice, deep, nasty wound, and how we’re gonna do that is with the use of cocoa powder and also blue dye or blue food color.

When it comes to step number two we need to keep one thing in mind and that’s that fake blood looks thin and transparent. We need to make sure it looks more like real blood. It needs to feel dark and very thick, so this is why the first thing that we’re gonna put into our measuring jar is gonna be our corn syrup. We’re gonna need about eight tablespoons of corn syrup.

The next thing that we’re gonna use to help add to our color and thickness is gonna be our cocoa powder. We’re gonna use about one teaspoon. You can also use a quarter of a teaspoon of corn starch which is gonna help take away some of that color if it’s a little bit too dark after the use of the cocoa powder.

Now the next thing you’re gonna wanna use is the blue dye. We used about a drop and a half because the blue dye tends to overpower the red dye and it comes across as a little bit stronger. The last step to the measuring process is to add about one full teaspoon of red dye to our mixture.

Step number three to creating fake blood is making the necessary adjustments after you’ve already measured everything else. So what we’re going to go ahead and do is add a little bit more of our red dye, probably about another half of a teaspoon to give it a little bit more brightness because it seems a little bit too dark right now.

And when it comes to the type of effects you could use when you have fake blood, the first thing that comes to mind is actually a straight cut. Let’s say you have two characters and one is fighting with another. Now the simple reaction shot, all we need to do is use a toothpick or the edge of a pin and you could apply the blood exactly where that subject or the impact happened.

So if I were to hit a subject in his jaw the next shot you would see would be the reaction shot of the subject turning and looking towards the camera. Now another effect that we can all do is create a blood pump. Now how we’re gonna do this is with the use of some aquarium tubing. Now imagine you have a straw. What you’re gonna do is suck in the blood from one end, then you’re gonna seal off that end, and from there you’re gonna blow it out whenever you’re ready to use that blood.

So this is gonna be great for an effect in a film where you want the blood to splatter out from a certain cut or wound, or to create extra drama or impact on a scene. Now you can also use this blood to help add to an effect you already have created. So in our case we use this artificial scar tissue and we simply added by creating some blotches around the skin with the use of some simple make-up.

The big part of special effects is the ability to be creative and the best way to pull off those special effects is to understand what your guidelines are and then how to work within them to get them to work best for you.

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